FAQ

Who is Southeast Marketing?

A team of creative, smart and hardworking sales professionals who have developed trusting relationships with a diverse and extensive group of retail clients. Our customers buy from Southeast Marketing because we are knowledgeable, honest, organized, computer savvy, and caring, and represent only the best retailing products in the gift industry. Meet our administrative team.

What territory does Southeast Marketing cover?

Southeast Marketing has a national showroom in downtown Atlanta in AmericasMart. In addition we have a network of 30 sales professionals living and working throughout the Southeastern part of the U.S. They offer on-site sales services in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi. In addition, we have an export specialist who speaks Spanish and Portuguese, travels to Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and the Caribbean, and handles all export business to the Latin trade. Our accomplished road reps provide purchasing guidance, inventory management, merchandising tips, ranking information, problem solving skills and the opportunity for the retail clients to see actual product samples.

How long has Southeast Marketing been in business?

Southeast Marketing has been helping retailers locate, select and purchase great giftware since 1981.

How long has the average associate been with Southeast Marketing?

Southeast Marketing has been in business for over 30 years and the average tenure of our sales associates is over 15 years.

What about trade shows and showrooms?

Southeast Marketing has a 12,000 square foot showroom at AmericasMart in downtown Atlanta. We are fully computerized and have one of the busiest showrooms in the building. We are known for our friendly atmosphere, knowledgeable sales reps, upbeat spirit, and wonderful hospitality. We hear comments all the time about how our showroom has an energy, spirit and buzz that cannot be found anywhere else in the building. We open at 8 am every day and close when the last customer leaves. We cater breakfast, lunch and dinner and create an excitement about our showroom even before the market opens with pre show promotional activities and a content rich Southeast Marketing magazine that is mailed out to 10,000 customers who shop AmericasMart. Our state-of-the-art scanning stem allows us to effortlessly write millions of dollars during market with accuracy and speed. We transmit all our orders electronically via the internet every 24 hours.

Who are Southeast Marketing’s customers?

We sell to a broad based mix of over 10,000 specialty and multi-door retailer accounts including department stores, airport shops, general gift stores hospital and hotel gift shops, bookstores, museum, zoos, theme parks, resort stores, catalog accounts, baby stores, children shops, toy stores furniture and home accents stores, restaurant shops and garden shops. We sell a remarkable range of retail establishments. Over the years we have learned to never underestimate a sales opportunity. Southeast Marketing offers our vendors both a key account focus team that specializes in selling multi-door national accounts as well as an accomplished network of independent reps and road service people. Whether it is a car wash at a gas station or an upscale designer furniture outlet, we find the occasion to make a sale.

What product lines do Southeast Marketing represent?

Southeast Marketing sells a carefully selected ensemble of general gift, home accents, fragrance, kid’s stuff, holiday merchandise, fashion and impulse giftware. Leading lines include Michel Design Works, Blue Mountain Arts, DM Merchandising, Howard’s Jewelry, Cape Shore, Wellspring, Pacific Silver, Malden International, Westland and Mary Meyer. Southeast Marketing has been representing many of these lines for over 15 years. The line acquisition decisions are made by Robin Kert, the owner of the company, who carefully follows trends, analyzes sell-through statistics and networks with retailers. As a result, Southeast Marketing has developed a reputation with both key accounts and independent retailers for representing great products that sell.

Who is the leader behind Southeast Marketing?

Robin Kert owns and operates the company. Robin is a hands on leader who sets a high standard for administrative excellence and is involved in all the hiring decisions. People and the talent, energy, intelligence and ambition they bring to the company are the assets most valued at Southeast Marketing. Robin has put together a network of over achieving, goal driven individuals who love what they do and do it well. Robin comes from a business and entrepreneurial background. Her father dropped out of college at the age of 22 to start a specialty chemical business. He grew the company to be the dominant player in the region and then sold his interest to a publicly traded corporation in a related industry. Following in her father’s footsteps, Robin graduated from York University in Toronto, Canada with an MBA in 1978. Recruited by General Foods, she developed her marketing and management skills as a product manager in the Coffee Division. An entrepreneur at heart, Robin left the corporate world to start her own rep agency in 1981. From the beginning she envisioned Southeast Marketing’s competitive edge would be its elevated level of professionalism. This continues to be Southeast Marketing’s mission, and today we have the reputation of being one of the most professional and productive sales rep agencies in the gift industry.

How does Southeast Marketing coach, inspire and sustain our great sales team?

It is people power that makes Southeast Marketing excel. Deb Donahue is an integral part of the company’s success. Vice President of the Company, Deb Donahue acts as sales leader, trainer, cheerleader and source of inspiration for the sales associates.

Deb began her working career with Reebok in their retail division. This gave her an extensive background in merchandising and retail. In the early 90’s when she relocated to Florida she became a territory rep for Southeast Marketing. Quickly revealing herself to be a top producer, she became increasingly involved in the inner workings of the organization, excelling at key account development, showroom merchandising and rep training.

Together, Robin and Deb steer the company; managing, designing and hosting an ever changing series of on-going seminars and sales conferences. Some training conferences are organized by our vendors at their offices; others are hosted by Southeast Marketing. By partnering with our associates and offer ongoing professional development opportunities so they can network with peers, enhance their product knowledge, learn new and better selling techniques and territory management systems, and upgrade their technical skills, Southeast Marketing has been able to assemble the most stable, capable and professional team of sales reps in the gift industry.

Why hire Southeast Marketing?

Because Southeast Marketing is the most professional and accomplished sales and marketing company in the gift industry.